Privacy Policy

DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY & ENDORSEMENT
The content of the this site or any other site, owned, operated, licensed, sponsored or controlled by the Maryland Department of Commerce comes from a variety of public and private information sources. Although effort has been made to provide complete and accurate information, the information should always be verified before it is used in any way.  Maryland Department of Commerce  makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information from the service or links to other services. Any reference obtained from this site to a specific company, commercial product, process, or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by   Maryland Department of Commerce of the company, commercial product, process, or service.  

NOTICE SPECIFIC TO DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE ON THIS WEBSITE
Permission to use documents (such as reports, publications, press releases, datasheets and FAQs) from this site is granted, provided that (1) the copyright notice appears in all copies and that both the copyright notice and this permission notice appear, (2) use of such documents from this site is for informational and noncommercial or personal use only and will not be copied or posted on any network computer or broadcast in any media, and (3) no modifications of any documents are made. Documents specified above do not include the design or layout of this website or any other site owned, operated, licensed, sponsored or controlled by Maryland Department of Commerce  .   Elements of Maryland Department of Commerce  Web sites are protected by trade dress, trademark, unfair competition, and other laws and may not be copied or imitated in whole or in part. No logo, graphic, sound or image from any  Maryland Department of Commerce  website may be copied, retransmitted, or used in a manner which suggests  Maryland Department of Commerce's association with or endorsement of any product, service, opinion or cause unless expressly permitted by  Maryland Department of Commerce. The documents and related graphics published on this site could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.  Maryland Department of Commerce  may make changes in the site described herein at any time.  

NOTICE REGARDING DOCUMENTS AND SERVICES AVAILABLE ON THIS WEBSITE
Users entering materials on this website or any other site owned, operated, licensed, sponsored or controlled by Maryland Department of Commerce are responsible for the content of that material. Maryland Department of Commerce  has no responsibility for the content of any messages or information posted by users, or for the content of information of third parties on the Internet, even if accessed through Maryland Department of Commerce  pages.  Maryland Department of Commerce does retain the right, which it may or may not exercise, in its sole discretion, to review, edit or delete from the service any third-party material which  Maryland Department of Commerce deems to be inappropriate in any way. In no event shall  Maryland Department of Commerce be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort action, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of documents, provision or failure to provide services, or information available from this service.  

LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES
Some links in this Web site or any other site owned, operated, licensed, sponsored or controlled by Maryland Department of Commerce  are not under the control of  Maryland Department of Commerce  and Maryland Department of Commerce  is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites.  Maryland Department of Commerce is  not responsible for webcasting or any other form of transmission received from any linked site. Maryland Department of Commerce  is providing these links to you only as a convenience and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Maryland Department of Commerce of the site.  

PRIVACY POLICY

Public Records - Privacy and Data Security
Thank you for visiting Maryland State Government. We take data security and the privacy of your personal and non-personal information very seriously. Maryland law mandates that state agencies shall not create personal records unless the need for the information is clearly established and that personal records shall be relevant to the purposes, for which they are collected, be accurate and current, and not be obtained by fraudulent means.   State officials who request personal data from citizens must notify the citizens regarding the purposes for which the information is collected; consequences to the citizen for refusing to provide the personal information; the citizen's right to inspect and correct personal records; whether the information is generally available for public inspection; and whether the information is made available to other entities. Please refer to the eMaryland technology web site for additional information on information technology policies in Maryland.   The State of Maryland is committed to providing you with Web sites over which you may securely and confidently transact business with the state. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us . The Office of Tourism Development is committed to maintaining your confidence and trust, and accordingly maintains the following privacy policy to protect personal information provided online.  

Basic Confidentiality Policy
It is Maryland Department of Commerce policy that personal information, such as your name, postal and e-mail address or telephone number, is private and confidential. Accordingly, the personal information you provide is stored in a secure location, is accessible only by designated staff, and is used only for the purposes for which you provide the information. If you indicate on our sites that you would like to receive information about  Maryland Department of Commerce  programs and services, your personal information will be added to appropriate Maryland Department of Commerce mailing lists.  

No Release of Personal Information to Third Parties
Personal information will not be released to third parties except to further the purpose for which you provide the information, or if release is required by law or is pertinent to judicial or governmental investigations or proceedings. There are no other circumstances under which we will provide or sell personal information to third parties.  

No Computer Tracking of Identifiable Information
Our computer is not set up to track, collect or distribute personal information about its visitors. It does recognize the home server of visitors, but not e-mail addresses. This information is used only for internal purposes by Maryland Department of Commerce  technical support staff. No personal information is collected. In addition, our web sites track information about the visits to our Web sites.  For example, we compile statistics that show the daily number of visitors to our sites, the daily requests we receive for particular files on our web sites, and what countries those requests come from. These aggregated statistics are used internally to better provide services to the public and may also be provided to others, but again, the statistics contain no personal information and cannot be used to gather such information.

Cookies
Cookies are text files that may be placed in the browser of your device (e.g., computer or mobile phone) to store your preferences. Maryland Department of Commerce  may use cookies to collect non-personally identifiable information (e.g., the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your device, which provides general location data), sometimes across multiple devices, to monitor how effective Maryland Department of Commerce's  advertisements are at inspiring you to visit Maryland.  Maryland Department of Commerce  may share with its service providers the non-personal information that is collected through cookies to monitor the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns.  If you wish to opt out of cookies that allows Maryland Department of Commerce  to serve advertisements while you are in Maryland, and collect aggregate information on arrivals, CLICK HERE.

Social Media Policy
Users and visitors to the Maryland Office of Tourism Development social media sites shall be notified that the intended purpose of the site is to serve as a mechanism for communication between the Maryland Office of Tourism Development departments and members of the public. Maryland Department of Commerce  social media site articles and comments containing any of the following forms of content shall not be allowed:

• Comments not topically related to the particular social medium article being commented upon;
• Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns or ballot measures;
• Profane language or content;
• Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
• Sexual content or links to sexual content;
• Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
• Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or
• Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.
• Any other content deemed inappropriate for  Maryland Department of Commerce  social media channels

·  The Maryland Department of Commerce reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this social media policy or any applicable law.

·  The Maryland Department of Commerce will approach the use of social media tools as consistently as possible, enterprise wide.